Who Knows?

"People were clear, both of them. They were clear they did not want to put a complaint in. They were meeting with her (Liberal Party's MP Foote) to give her the situation and that's it. They said, 'It's up to you. We are not putting a complaint in.' [The women needed time to find a way to heal] from the alleged misconduct."
"That's what they are facing now. And that's why they don't want this to go on. They just want to go on with their lives."
"None of the women were aware that it (would) come out. They were expecting a bit of respect. And a bit of respect meant that they should have known or they should have been informed what was the next step."
"Mr. Trudeau has to deal with his two MPs. It's up to him. I won't touch that part."Nicole Turmel, NDP whip, Member of Parliament

Justin Trudeau, Leader, Liberal Party of Canada, left; Thomas Mulcair, Leader of he Opposition NDP Party, right; disagreement over the handling of the accusations by NDP MPs against Liberal MPs

And deal with them he did. Summarily. Acting as the judge, the jury and the executioner. The two Members of Parliament were dismissed from the Liberal caucus. And forbidden to run again in the next general election scheduled for 2015. They were given no reasonable explication. Nor were they permitted the opportunity to rebut any allegations of ill conduct lodged against them, let alone informed who had charged them with inappropriate conduct.

And this, from lawmakers in the Canadian Parliament. In Canada anyone charged with a crime is considered innocent until proven guilty. In the Parliament of Canada, if you're a Liberal, your leader will consider you guilty of a crime you're unaware of, or who levelled the accusation against you to allow you the opportunity to clear your name, because you're automatically guilty, plus there is no way to allow for proving yourself innocent.

In one fell swoop careers of democratically elected Members of Parliament snapped asunder, their reputations in ruin, their future prospects truncated by the unproven yet shameful allegations that something very dire and inappropriate took place between themselves and accusers who don't wish to be identified, even knowing that their accusations have caused the collapse of a colleague's (albeit of another political party) reputation and future employment.

"They are not ready", said Nicole Turmel, speaking for the two female NDP Members of Parliament who had quietly come forward to lodge a complaint against two other, Liberal Members of Parliament ostensibly for any breach of social behaviour ranging from inappropriate comments, to physically touching to heaven-knows-what, because they're not saying, actually. But they do want their right to privacy honoured. And perhaps they also feel a level of guilt at the manner in which their revelations have impacted on the personal life and political career of two puzzled men.

"They haven't shown any sign that they wanted to come forward. So on this we have followed them. That's the last word we got from them", Ms. Turmel said, explaining what was already obvious without quite explaining what obviously needing to be clarified and amplified, information provided that might lead the way to clearing up the issue that has either victimized two innocent men or provided a punishment to two men who should have known better.